Cost to Paint a House

Painting a house in the UK costs anywhere from around £200 for a single small room to well over £5,000 for a full interior redecoration or an exterior repaint including scaffold. The range is wide because the price depends heavily on the size of the property, the number of storeys, the condition of the existing surfaces, and the quality of paint specified.

As a rough benchmark for 2026, most homeowners pay £2,000–£5,500 to have a typical three-bedroom semi-detached interior professionally decorated, or £1,500–£4,000 for a full exterior repaint on the same property, with the exterior figure rising when a full scaffold is needed.

Cost Breakdown at a Glance

Figures are 2026 UK averages. London and South East typically sit at the higher end; Scotland, Wales, and the North tend to be 10–20% lower.

Which? Trusted Traders’ November 2025 survey put repainting the walls and ceiling of a medium room (about 3.3 m by 3 m) at £250–£1,100, excluding VAT, and repainting the walls of the hall, stairs and landing of a three-bedroom house at £400–£1,600.¹ Added up room by room for a three-bedroom semi, those prices start at roughly £2,000 before any woodwork is painted, which is where the whole-house range above starts.

What Drives the Price

Labour

Labour is the dominant cost, typically well over half of the total bill. A painter and decorator working alone will need around two weeks for the whole interior of a three-bedroom semi, depending on the level of prep required. Exterior work often runs longer because of drying time between coats and the physical overhead of working at height.

Interior decorator day rates in 2026 run £180–£300 per day including their own small tools and dustsheets. Exterior painters, where height work, more physical exertion, and weatherproofing expertise are involved, charge £200–£350 per day.

A two-person crew costs more per day but finishes faster, often making it comparable in total cost while reducing disruption.

Prep Work

Paint only performs as well as the surface beneath it. If walls have significant cracks, blown plaster, or flaking old paint, the decorator will spend time (and charge accordingly) on filling, sanding, and priming. This can add £200–£800 to an interior job on a neglected property.

Exterior prep is equally important: algae and moss must be treated, loose render repaired, and bare timber primed before topcoats go on. Skipping prep is the single most common reason exterior paint fails within a few years.

Paint Quality

Paint is a relatively small proportion of the total cost but matters more than most homeowners expect. A budget trade emulsion runs £15–£25 per 10-litre tin.² A good-quality washable emulsion for kitchens or hallways costs £35–£55 per tin; premium exterior masonry paint can reach £60–£80 for a 10-litre tin. On a 3-bed semi exterior you might use four to six tins of masonry paint, so upgrading from budget to premium adds roughly £150–£250 to the materials bill. That is usually worthwhile: premium masonry paints are sold with up to 15 years’ protection, against the five to seven years typically expected from a budget product.³

Scaffold

For a two-storey house, a decorator working on the exterior will need either a tower scaffold or a full scaffolding erection. Tower scaffolds are portable and adequate for smaller sections; full scaffold (erect, hire for two weeks, strike) typically costs £600–£1,400 for a semi-detached. On a detached property with four elevations this can reach £1,800–£2,500. Some painters include scaffold in their quote; others price it separately, always clarify upfront.

UPVC Frames

Standard gloss paint does not adhere to UPVC. If you want window and door frames repainted, the decorator must use a specialist adhesion primer followed by a flexible topcoat formulated for plastics. Expect to pay £25–£60 per window frame depending on size, with door frames at the higher end.

Number of Colours and Coats

A single neutral colour across an entire interior is faster to apply than a property with multiple feature wall colours, contrast woodwork, and different finishes room by room. Each additional colour requires cleaning brushes and rollers between switches and often an extra coat to achieve full coverage over the previous colour. Budget an extra £50–£150 per room if you are making dramatic colour changes.

Typical Day Rates (2026 UK)

Most decorators will quote a fixed price for the job rather than charging day rates, ask for a fixed quote so you are not exposed to open-ended costs if prep takes longer than expected.

Worked Example: 3-Bed Semi, Full Interior Repaint

Property: Three-bedroom semi-detached, circa 85 m² floor area. Living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway and stairs, three bedrooms, bathroom. Last painted seven years ago; surfaces in reasonable condition with minor cracks.

In practice most decorators would quote this as a fixed job price in the range of £2,500–£3,500, reflecting their assessment of prep time and material waste. The example above is on the lean side; a larger property or one requiring more prep would sit nearer £4,000–£5,500.

Building Regulations and Standards

Interior decorating is not notifiable under Building Regulations for most domestic work. However, a few situations are worth being aware of:

• Shared escape routes: in a house in multiple occupation or a building divided into flats, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers the common parts, so repainting shared hallways and staircases should not lower the fire performance of the wall and ceiling surfaces; check the building’s fire risk assessment before choosing a finish.⁴
• Listed buildings need listed building consent for most work that affects their special architectural or historic interest, which can include changing an exterior colour or finish; check with your local conservation officer before instructing a painter.⁵
• Render repairs carried out as part of exterior preparation can bring in the thermal upgrade requirements of Part L if more than 50% of a wall’s surface is renovated (or more than 25% of the whole building envelope); patch repairs before painting rarely reach that threshold, but it is worth being aware of if large areas of render are being stripped and replaced.⁶

Tips for Getting Accurate Quotes

• Ask at least three decorators to quote in writing, specifying the exact rooms, number of coats, and who supplies paint.
• Clarify whether paint is included in the price or purchased separately, some decorators mark up materials, others prefer you to supply them.
• Ask specifically about prep: a quote that assumes minimal prep can balloon if the decorator discovers more filling is needed once work starts.
• Agree a start date in writing; good decorators book weeks ahead and late changes are costly for both parties.
• Check that the decorator has public liability insurance of at least £1 million, any reputable sole trader or firm will have this.